1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a contact.
2. Description of the Related Art
A semiconductor device is manufactured by forming a semiconductor integrated circuit on a wafer made of, for example, silicon. When manufacturing a semiconductor device, a measuring apparatus is used to measure an electrical characteristic of a semiconductor integrated circuit. Such a measurement is performed in a state where a probe pin is electrically connected with an electrode pad of the semiconductor device.
A so-called coil spring probe is known as the contact (for example, Patent Document 1). The coil spring probe is formed by building a coil spring into a cylindrical casing. A terminal disposed at one end of the coil spring electrically contacts an electrode pad, and the other terminal disposed at the other end electrically contacts a measuring apparatus.
The coil spring probe expands or contracts by the coil spring provided inside a casing. The terminal is applied with force by a contact between the electrode pad and the terminal. Then, the contact contracts to secure an electrical contact between the electrode pad and the terminal.
However, manufacture of the coil spring probe requires outlay, time, and a high cost because the coil spring probe is manufactured by producing small parts such as a casing, a coil spring, and a terminal and assembling these parts.
Meanwhile, a contact manufactured by punching and bending a metal sheet is known (for example, Patent Document 2). The number of parts of the contact is as small as 1, and assembling of a large number of parts is not required. Therefore, the contact can be manufactured at a low cost.    [Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-24664    [Patent Document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2013-217800    [Patent Document 3] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2009-128211
When an oxide film is formed on the surface of the electrode pad, it is not possible to accurately measure electrical characteristics of the semiconductor integrated circuit only with a contact between the electrode pad and the terminal. This is caused by no contact between the electrode pad and the contact due the oxide film.
Therefore, there is a method of scraping away the oxide film on the electrode pad using the front edge of the terminal to cause the electrode pad to contact the oxide film.
Here, the size of the electrode pad tends to decrease along with higher integration of the semiconductor device. The oxide film on the electrode pad is scraped when the edge of the terminal moves on the surface of the electrode pad. However, if the electrode pad is small, the front edge of the terminal may overrun to go off the electrode pad.
As such, when the contact terminal overruns to go off the electrode pad and the contact are separated, the electrical characteristics of the semiconductor integrated circuit cannot be measured.